Apparatus for blending liquids



Jan. 24, 1939. A. H. RINEY ET AL 2,145,132

APPARATUS FOR BLENDING LIQUIDS Filed Sept. 10, 1935' a0 134" 'LgE.

i 27 43 l4 I6 44 t Wl' INVENTOR. ARTHUR H. RINEY LLOYD T. 01855 A TTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 24, 1 939 PATENT OFFICE 2,145,132 APPARATUS FOR BLENDI NG LIQUIDS Arthur H. Biney and Lloyd T. Gibbs, Bartlesville,

kla., assignors to Phillips Petroleum Company, Bartlesville, 0kla., a. corporation of Delaware Application September 10, 1935, Serial No. 39,989

2 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for blending fluids, and in particular to apparatus for blending gases and liquids for use with a. fluid dispensing system. l

The object of this invention is to efliciently and accurately blend fluids in predetermined desired proportions and to control and regulate the mixing of the fluids to give any desired proportional mixture.

While the present invention has a wide range of adaptability and may be used in connection "with the blending and mixing of practically any type or kind of fluids, the embodiment of the invention to be herein described has been designed wtih an especial view to handling liquids of the hydrocarbon type, such as gasoline, fuel oil, and

the like.

Still further objects and advantages of thisment of the fluid blending and dispensing device, constituting this invention,

Fig. 2 illustrates diagrammatically another embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 3 illustrates diagrammatically still another embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 4 illustrates a side view of a fluid blending unit or device to be used in connection with such mixing and blending devices shown diagrammatically in the above referred to figures, and

5 is across-sectional view of Fig. 4 taken on line 5,-5 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows and showing the interior of the blending device.

In the drawing is shown a blending system hav-- ing a proportioning device or unit comprising a bowl shaped hollow housing or casing Ill, so formed as to present a chamber H interiorly thereof. To close the upper,.or open side of the ,casing l0, and to form a complete chamber ll while the orifices l4 and I5 of the inlets l4 and I5 respectively are restricted as shown in Fig. 4, and present a relatively long narrow aperture through which the liquid enters the chamber ll of the blending unit ill.

Within the chamber H of the proportioning unit It) there is positioned a revolvable segmental plug l9 which divides the chamber it into the compartments Ila and llb, the first mentioned compartment being associated with inlet I5 and outlet l6, and the latter with inlet l4 and outlet H, as is shown in Fig. 5. The peripheral edge IQ of the plug l9, forms a. close sliding contact with the interior side walls of the chamber II, and when the plug I9 is rotated the edge I9 is moved to open or close the inlet orifice l4 and I5 to any extent desired.

The upper face of the cover plate I2 is centrally provided with a bushing or guide 20 through which extends a stem 2| that is integral with or secured to the segmental plug IS. A gland nut 22 is screwed down over the stem 2| and into the bushing 20 to form a tight fit therewith and to prevent the escape of liquid from the chamber ll out through the bushing 20. Keyed to the upper end of the stem 21- is a relatively large gear wheel 23 which is retained in place by the nut 24.

Secured to the upper face of the cover plate l2 or integral therewith is a support 25 in which there is rotatably mounted the upstanding shaft 26 having keyed thereto the relatively small gear will rotate the shaft 26 and the gear 21, and as this gear meshes with gear 23 it also will be rotated, and in this manner the stem 2| and plu 19' will be caused to rotate and so regulate and vary the restricted area of the inlet orifices l4 and 15'. In Figs. 4 and 5 the plug l9, the actuating arm 29 and their associate parts are all arranged in a neutral position, that is, the peripheral edge IQ of the plug is so positioned as to close one half of each of the inlet orifices I4 and I5. Regardless of the position of the plug IS,

the combined open area of the two restricted oriflcesi I4 and I5 is always a constant and exactly equal to the area of either one of these orifices.

will enter the proportioning device through orifice I4 and flow out through outlet I1 and that another liquid will enter at orifice I5 and flow through outlet I6. The two different liquids, constituting two difierent streams are later brought together, as will be described, to form a blend. The proportioning of the liquids is con-.

trolled by regulating the position of the plug I9 to give the desired openings at the inlet orifices Assuming that the gears 23 and 21 have a ratio of 5:1, and it is possible to move the pointer 29 through an arc of 180 or more, and as the pointer is connected through these gears with the plug I9, it may be moved through any desired are up to and including 180 in order to control and regulate the size of the inlet orifices. For blending fluids, such as those handled in gasoline filling stations, the size of the orifices I4 and I5 may be made approximately .14 of a square inch in area. In order to produce the accuracy required for perfect blending it is-necessary to design the apparatus so that a movement of a few degrees of the pointer will add but slightly to the area of one inlet port, such as I 4, and subtract but slightly from the area of the other inlet port I5. The sum of the exposed areas of ports I4 and I5 is at all times a constant. If the orifices I4' and I 5' are constructed so that the length of the elongated slot is approximately .7 of an inch, the width should then be about .2 of an. inch. Fluid from one source of supply is connected to the orifice I 4', and a fluid from a second source of supply is connected to orifice I5. The'outlet orifices I6 and II can be of any convenient shape, and as these are merely the outlets for the blending device, the area of these openings is not important so long as they are equalto or greater than the areas of orifices I4' and I5 respectively.

, One of the particular purposes for which thisdevice is designed is for use in connection with blending two liquids, such as gasolines, each having a diflerent vapor pressure, and the device is used to produce an accurate blend with a vapor pressure which may be anything between the vapor pressure of the two products, depending upon the setting of the pointer 29, to control the inlet orifices I4 and I 5'. For example, when with this particular device as above described, two gasolines are blended, one having a vapor pressure of 7#, and the other having a vapor pres sure of 13#, a movement of .1 of an inch of the plug I9 will produce a 1# difference in the vapor pressure of the resulting blend, which is the result of combining at some later stage the liquids issuing from the outlets I6 and II.

The proportioning unit above described is capable of many embodiments and adapts itself read- .ily to various types of dispensing systems and methods. In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 there are shown several types of liquid dispensing systems wherein the proportioning unit III is combined. This unit is substantially the same as the one above described, and like reference characters designate lik parts throughout the several figures.

With particular reference now to Fig. 1 there is shown a liquid dispensing system which includes a brace of pumps 42 and 42' which are interposed in the pipes 43 and 43 and act to force the liquid from its source into inlets I4 and I5 of the liquid blending unit I 0. Thus it can be appreciated that by setting the pointer 29 at the proper position to give the desired blend, a predetermined tainedin the pipes 43 and 43'.

desired, and flow respectively into the pipes 44 5 v and 44', both of which are coupled at 45 to a pipe 46 into which the predetermined blend of the liquids from pipes 43 and 43 fiow. A metering device 41 is interposed in the pipe 46 to measure the volume flow. With this arrangement it is pos- 10 sible to produce a single liquid which is composed in any desired proportions of the two liquids con- This is true and possible because of the proportioning unit III which may be set to control the mixture of the liquids from the pipes 43 and 43' and so produce various blends dependent upon the demand.

In Fig. 2 there is disclosed another type of system and method for dispensing and blending liquids. respects similar to those used in connection with the system and method for dispensing liquids described in relation with Fig. 1, but notice is given that in this instance a single pump 48 is used and that it is interposed in the pipe 46 through which 25 the blended liquid fiows. By this arrangement the suction on the inlet orifices I 4' and I5 of the proportioning unit I0 is uniform and the two liquids are pulled therethrough from their sources in tanks 40 and 40 in volume truly in proportion to '30 v the size of the regulated and controlled inlet orifices I4 and I5. This results'in a more perfect and accurate proportioning of the liquids from the tanks 40 and 40', and so by use of this system and method the desired blend of the two liquids 35 is positively and accurately produced in true accordance with the setting and controlling of the inlet orifices I 4' and I5.

A still further embodiment of this invention is illustrated in Fig. 3, and it constitutes acombina- 40 tion of the two liquid blending and dispensing systems and methods described in relation to 'Figs. 1 and 2. Here there are provided a'pair of liquid storage tanks 50 and 50', which by means of pumps 5I and SI force the liquid through the 5 pipes 52 and 52 into a pair of visible bowls 53 and 53. A pair of conventional liquid dispensing pump housings 54 and 54' are provided to encase the pumps and their associated parts. The liquid from the tanks 50 and 50' is forced up into the 50 bowls 53 and 53' respectively. From these bowls the liquid will flow through the pipes 43 and 43' to the controlled inlets I4 and I5 and will pass through the proportioning unit I0 and into the pipes 44, 44' and 46 in the .samemanner as de- 55 scribed with relation to Figl 1. Here, as before, the proportioning unit I0 is capable of being set so as to control the size of the inlet orifices I4 and I5 and so produce a blended liquid of any desired mixture. In addition to this arrangement thereto may be provided a pump, such as the one shown at 48, positioned on the discharge side of the proportioning unit ID in order that equal suction will be exerted on the inlet orifices I 4' and I 5' regardless of the size of their relative openings. 65

By virtue of this pump 48 and the suction created thereby, the liquids from the bowls 53 and 53' are drawn through the inlet orifices I4 and I5 respectively, in volume exactly in proportion to the size of the inlet orifice openings and in this 70 The elements of this system are in most 2 2,145,132 What we claim and desire to secure by Letters casing,

a cylindrical chamber within the casing, 

